The cavalry has arrived - mounted police are in Oxford for the return of Operation Backlash - a clampdown on the city's most prolific criminals.

The so-far secret operation has seen up to 40 police officers targeting burglars, car thieves, drug offenders and vandals across the city.

There have been 34 arrests and the operation is continuing with a pledge to come down hard on repeat offenders.

The mounted police have been in the city centre as a visible deterrent to crime - pushing criminals out of the city centre to outlying areas of Oxford where officers are waiting.

Oxford police commander Supt Jim Trotman said: "This year Backlash has been running for a week so far and we are really pleased with the results.

"We have arrested 34 people, including three burglars, 10 autocrime offenders and one street robber.

"Six people have been arrested on warrants and four for drugs offences. The rest have been for theft, criminal damage and smaller offences."

Supt Trotman said there were a number of criminals across the city who were driven by their drug habits.

He added: "The people we are tackling at the moment are those who show no inclination to stop committing crime and we are coming down hard on them."

Backlash costs between £7,000 and £10,000 per week and involves between 18 and 40 officers on the streets.

Yesterday, officers from the Thames Valley Police roads policing department were out in force, in areas where drug dealing is known to happen, and stopping any cars used for crime.

Supt Trotman said: "The mounted officers are also good at spotting street crime.

"They also mean we disperse crime from the city centre to outlying areas of Oxford where more officers are ready and waiting.

"This is a time of year when we have a lot of people released from prison and we have some particularly difficult criminals out there, but we also have a number of police officers out there catching them."

Det Insp Kev Elkins, of Oxford police, urged the public to protect themselves from criminals.

He said: "We need people to take responsibility for their own security. Last year, a laptop was stolen in 40 per cent of burglaries - that is 400 to 500 laptops being stolen - and these are generally preventable crimes."

Supt Trotman would not reveal how long Backlash would run.

He said: "We continue to run, then we will stop it and review the intelligence we have gathered. We'll then come back and start it again to keep the criminals on their toes."

Last spring, Backlash, "an overt and covert" operation, saw officers arrest 151 people.

These included 21 burglars, 13 robbers, 11 cycle thieves, 39 people wanted for drugs offences, four for possessing offensive weapons, 16 for autocrime offences and 25 who were on arrest warrants after failing to turn up for court appearances.